Automatic pinion-cutting machine.



A. H. NEURBUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1907. 937,259 Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 Wu. wh-

ANDREW. a. GRAHAM co.. PKOTO-LIYNOGRIPHERS. WASHINGTON n. c.

A. H. NEURBUTHER AUTOMATIU PINION CUTTING MACHINE.-

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 21,.1907.

' Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

S a S @T Q M TU a J v IN VENT OR wmvzsssss:

I A. H. NEUREUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION GUT'IING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1907.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR v WITNESSES: W

ANDREW a. comma co mom mnoamvuzns. WASNINPTON. n. c

Patented Oct. 19, 1909. V

A. H. NEUREUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1907.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES ANDREW. I!v mmnu 00., PNOTO-UTHOOMPKERS. wusumm'ou. n d.-

A. .11. NEURBUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 21, 1907.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

12 SHEETB-8EEET 6.

WITNESSES:

A. H. NEURBUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MAOHINB.

Arl uou'lon FILED Mn 21, 1907.

Patnted 001;. 19,1909.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

WITNESSES:

ANDREW. uv cnmAM c0. PMoIo-umucmvums. maumaran. u. c.

A. H. NEUREUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1907.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

WM am A. H. NEUREUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MAGHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1907.

937,259. Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

12 SHEETS-SHBET -8- LI 405 5857 5L 55 5a52 WITNESSES: INVENTOR WM 00 Y0444M #mwm mnnsw. av swam ca. vunm-Lm-mamvnins. wAsmNurcN. n. c.

A. H. NEUREUTHER. AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILEDMAY 21, 1907.

937,259. Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

- 12 SHEETS-SHEET 9.

flfvo i III? l vmvasawwl INVENTOR MJKW I W ANDREW. a GRAHAM co.,PHOT0-U1KDURAFflERS.WASmNGTON. n. c.

A. H. NEUREUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Mn 21, 1907.

937,259 Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 10.

WITfTESSES: uvwsfimg A. H. NEUREUTHER.

'AUTOMATIG PINION CUTTING MACHINE.

OIWM L Q a 2 $1 gl 3 an d m J m k k APPLIOATION FILED MAY 21, 1907.937,259.

' WITNESSES:

Ammiw. B4 (mum on" monxwuomupums. wAsnmero. n. c,

A. H. NEURBUTHER.

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1907- 7937,259, Patented Oct. 19,1909.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 12.

ANDREW. B. GRAHAM 0a.. Motommounuums. wlsmuarow. n. a

unrrn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW H, NEUREUTI-IER, OF PERU, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO THE WESTERN CLOCKMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF LA SALLE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC PIN ION-CUTTING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW H. NEU- REUTHER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Peru, in the county of Lasalle and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Automatic Pinion-CuttingMachine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for cutting the teeth of pinions andgears and has for its object the production of a machine in which it isonly necessary to dump any number of pinion blanks into a hopper, whenthey will be erected (righted) stacked. forced on to an arbor, properlyindexed, the teeth formed or cut and the blank again released andconducted from the machine, the entire process being performed by themachine itself, or automatically, making the machine an automatic pinioncutting machine.

My invention further relates to the specific means and devices whichwill be hereinafter described, shown and claimed.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure I is a top view of my automatic pinion cuttingmachine, Fig. II is a righthand side view, Fig. III is a left-hand sideview, Fig. IV is a front end'view of my machine, Fig. V is a rear endview of my machine, Fig. VI is a vertical cross-sectional view throughthe feeding device, along a line AB of Fig. I, seen from the front, Fig.VII is a vertical sectional view along a line CD, Fig. I, Fig. VIII is ahorizon tal sectional view through the shafts and frame, showing thearrangement of the shafts, gears, cams, clutches etc., Fig. IX is avertical cross-sectional view along a line .IJF, Fig. I, viewed from theback of the machine, Fig. X is a vertical cross-sectional view along aline GI-I, Fig. I, viewed from the front of the machine, Fig. XI is avertical sectional view through the cutter slide viewed from theright-hand side of the machine, Fig. XII is an enlarged verticalsectional View through the arbor showing how it is slidably connectedwith the indexing mechanism and showing method of indexing and lockingthe arbor. Fig. XIII is a front view of Fig. XII, showing actuatingshaft and index locking cam in section, Fig. XIV

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 21, 1907.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909. Serial No. 374,934.

is a top view of the part of Fig. XII showing the construction of thesliding connection between the arbor and the indexing mechanism. Fig. XVis an enlarged crosssectional view of the spring loaded gage for liningthe blank with the arbor.

In the drawing, 1 represents the frame of my machine, 2, 3, and 4 arebearings in the frame 1 which journal the shaft 5 by means of which theentire driving mechanism of the machine is driven by means of pulley 8and belt 9. Rigidly fastened to shaft 5 is a worm 7 which engages a wormwheel 10 which is rigidly fastened to a shaft 11, which is journaled inthe front end of the frame 1 and in bracket bearings 13 and 17 fastenedto the frame of the machine (see Fig. VIII). Shaft 11 terminates with abevel gear 14 which engages with a bevel gear 15 which is rigidlymounted on a shaft 16 which is journaled in the frame of the machine asshown. Shaft 16 carries cams 110 and 148, both rigidly fastened to it bymeans of the pins shown (see Figs. VIII and IX). Cam 110 has a groovewhich carries a roll 109 which is journaled on a pin 106 which isrigidly fastened to a lever 107, which is journaled on a pin 105 mountedin the frame of the machine (see Figs. VII and IX). The upper end oflever 107 terminates into a projection 103, which has an aperturethrough which passes a pin 102. On this pin 102 are journaled two links101 whose other ends have apertures which are journaled on pinsprojecting from the collar 99, also journaled on the projecting part 108of arbor 92. Nuts 100 retain said collar 99 in its proper position asshown. From this it is seen that cam 110 controls the longitudinalmotion and position of arbor 92, causing it to remain stationary or toreciprocate, depending on the form of the groove in cam 110. On shaft 16is rigidly mounted a cam 148 which actuates a lever 19 journaled on apin 20 fastened to the frame of the machine. The other end of lever 20is pivotally connected to a link 21 whose upper end is journaled on apin fastened in the lower end of sliding member 22. Sliding member 22 isreciprocated vertically by means of cam 148, any number of times perrevolution, depending on the form of the said cam 148. Said member 22 asabove mentioned slides in the standard 27, which supports a hopper 23 onits upper extremity. The upper end of member 22 is cut off on an anglewith the vertical, and has a slot through the entire top surface. Theshape of this slot depends on the shape of the pinion or gear blankWhich it is desired to feed. The hopper 23 is generally filled with theblanks and the sliding member 22 works downward beneath the bottom ofthe hopper and comes up through the blanks; those which are erected orrighted in the slot remain so until, when the sliding member 22 is atits upper limit of travel, the slot in member 22 is brought in line witha runway 32 whose lower vertical part terminates in a horizontal runway,which at once forms a place for the stack of blanks in the verticalrunway to rest upon and a guideway for bringing the hole in the blank inline with the arbor end 95 it is forced on to. Horizontal guideway 32terminates in the curved runway or tube 42, which conducts the finishedpinion or gear wheel away from the machine. Guideway 32 has a notch 143cut out of its upper edge so that the rotating cutter 134 can cut theblank 96 and has openings on each side which permit the small stakingend 95 of staking arbor 94, which is fastened to above mentionedreciprocating arbor 92, to pass through said guide or runway and saidpinion into the bearing or standard 98, which is rigidly fastened to theframe. The upper part of tube 42 contains a combined blank gaging andreleasing mechanism which is composed of a piece 138 shaped as shown(see Fig. XV) journaled to the tube at- 139 and held in its normalposition by spring 140 as shown in the above mentioned Fig. XV.

28 is a plunger which reciprocates in the horizontal part of runway 32and is shown in Fig. VI in the act of taking a blank from the stack ofblanks, while in Fig. XV plunger 28 is shown placing the blank againstthe gage 138 after having pushed the blank 144 through the gage asindicated. Plunger 28 has a stem 26 which is journaled in frame 27, andhas the end threaded for a nut 145 which serves to adjust the distanceplunger 28 is thrown, so as to bring the blank up to the gage 138 andthe center hole of the blank in line with staking arbor 95. Plunger 28is actuated by means of a lever 30 which is pivotally connected to it bypin 34 and pivotally connected by means of pin 40 to the standard 33,which is fastened to the frame of the machine. Said lever 30 is furtherpivotally connected to a rod 37, which is also journaled in standard 33and in a bushing which is threaded to the frame of the machine at 36.Immediately after the rod 37 passes through the standard 33 it is formedinto a slot which carries a roll 39, which is journaled on a pin 41fastened in the said rod 37. On the other end of rod 37 is a spiralspring not shown, which keeps the roll 39 against the cam 18 which isrigidly fastened to the shaft 11 above mentioned. From the shape of camshown, it is evident that lever 30, and hence plunger 28, has anintermittent reciprocating motion, and pushes out or releases a blankand puts another from the stack of blanks in its place. The threadedbushing at 36 serves to screw up the tension of the spring on rod 37. Itmay be noted here that when the runway is full of blanks as shown inFig. V1, the blanks simply ride up and down on the sliding member 22until there is room for one or more blanks in the stationary runway. 25is the guide plate on standard 27 to retain the sliding member 22 in itsposition.

The arbor 92 as above mentioned has an intermittent reciprocatingmotion, moving forward when forcing on a blank against the standard 98,in which the end 95 of arbor 92 is journaled, and backward into thestandard 98 in which it is also ournaled, thereby releasing the blankfrom the arbor end 95 and leaving it free to be forced through the gage138 by plunger 28.

On shaft 11 is mounted cam 12 which actuates a bell crank lever 48 bymeans of a pin 51 in one end, which travels in. the groove of cam 12.Lever 48 is pivotally connected to a standard 49 which is fastened tothe frame 1. The other end of lever 48 actuates a clutch jaw 114 bymeans of pins 47 (see Fig. VIII) whichis slidably mounted on shaft 45 bymeans of a key 115 fastened to said shaft. It will be seen that althoughclutch jaw 114 can move along the length of the shaft 45, when itrotates it will rotate the shaft 45 with it. Clutch jaw 114 has teeth 46cut on one end. Journaled on this shaft 45 and in the frame 1 is a gearwheel 43 which engages and is rotated by gear (3 rigidly mounted on themain driving shaft 5. Gear 43 has rigidly fastened to it clutch jawteeth 44, conforming to the clutch jaw teeth 46. It is evident that gear43, since it is geared to shaft 5, will have a continuous rotary motionabout shaft 45 as an axis. The function of cam 12 is to move the clutchjaw 114 in and out of engagement with the clutch jaw teeth 44 on gear45. When the jaw teeth mentioned are apart, it is evident that shaft 45will not rotate. hen they are in or engaged, shaft 45 will rotate withgear 43. A collar 145 on shaft 45 serves to keep the parts in positionas shown. Mounted on the outer end of shaft 45 (see Fig. VIII) isfastened a gear 52 which engages with a gear 53, rigidly mounted on ashaft 54 which is journaled in the frame as shown. Fastened to shaft 54is a crank plate 111 which carries a crank pin 112 on which is journaledone end of connecting rod 113. The other end of connecting rod 113 isjournaled on a pin 116 fastened in the standard 114, which is fastenedto the sliding member or crosshead 117 (see Figs. VI and IX), which isslidably mounted in the frame 1 and held in position by means of coverplates 118, gib 141 and gib screws 142.

From the above description and the drawings, it is evident that whenshaft 45 is rotated (when the clutch teeth '46 and 44 are engaged bymeans of cam 12) by gear 43, the slide 117 will be given a reciprocatingmotion by means of the crank plate 111, the crank pin 112, connectingrod 113, pin 116 and standard 114, since crank plate 111 will be rotatedwhen shaft 45 is rotated. Rigidly mounted on slide 117 is a standard119. Adjustably mounted on this standard 119 is a frame 120, theadjustment comprising a plate 121 fastened to said frame, the shoulderedscrew 123 passing through said plate, having the nuts 122 to take up anyback lash, said screw being threaded in the standard 119. Said screwraises and lowers the cutter 134 to get depth of teeth cut.

Projecting from frame 120 are two bearings 124 in which is journaled thecutter arbor 125, which carries the gear cutter 134, which passesthrough the blank 96 when slide 117 reciprocates as above mentioned.Shaft 125 also has mounted on it the belt pulley 126, by means of whichit is driven.

Cutter arbor 125 has threaded portions 127, 130, on which are nuts 129,132 and lock nuts 128 and 131, which serve as means for moving cutter134 toward either side, so as to bring it central with the blank 96 andalso to take up the side back lash on said arbor.

Gear 53 above mentioned (see Fig. VIII) meshes into a gear 55 which isjournaled on a pin 56, fastened to the frame 1. This gear 55 meshes witha gear 57 journaled on a pin 58; gear 57 meshes with a gear 59 which issimilarly journaled on a pin 60 and gear 59 meshes with gear 61 which isfastened to the shaft 62. Shaft 62 is journaled in the frame 1 at and inthe standard 63 fastened to frame 1. From the method of connectingshafts 54 and 62 by the gearing shown, it is evident that these shaftsrotate in unison, viz., each completes a rotation in the same time.

Shaft 62 carries a cam 64 mounted on it between its bearings whosefunction will be explained further along. Shaft 62 also has a bevel gear66 mounted on it on the end opposite spur gear 61. This bevel gear 66meshes with a similar gear 67 which is fastened to a shaft 68 (see Figs.VII, XII and XIII) which is journaled in the frame 1 as shown. On theother end of the shaft 68 is fastened a crank plate 69 carrying a roll70 journaled on a pin 71 fastened near its periphery.

It is evident from the manner in which crank plate 69 is connected withshaft 62 that it rotates in unison with it. As crank plate 69 rotates,the roll 70 (see Figs. XII and XIII) engages and enters into the radialslots 81 in the periphery of the motion plate 82 (as shown in Fig. XII)and carries said plate 82 through a partial rotation, depending on thenumber of slots in said motion plate. The number of said slots 81 in themotion plate 82 is equal to the number of teeth to be cut in the pinion,said slots beingequally spaced as shown in Fig.

XIII. Motion plate 82 is fastened to a shouldered sleeve 84 by means ofbolts 83 (see Figs. VII and XII). Sleeve 84 is journaled in standards 90and 89, each of which is fastened to the frame 1. 91 is a split nut onsleeve 84 by means of which it can be adjusted so that the end motioncan be taken up.

In back of motion plate 82 and fastened to shouldered sleeve 84 by meansof bolts 78, is the index or locking plate 80, which carries the samenumber of equally spaced tapered bushings 79 as there are slots 81 inthe motion plate 82. Said index plate 80 with its tapered bushings 79serves as a means for locking the shouldered sleeve 84 between" eachsuccessive rotation of same by the crank plate roller 70 and the slots81 in motion plate 80. Said locking is accomplishedby means of the indexpin 76, which is journaled in a standard 77 which is fastened to theframe 1 (see Fig. XII). Index pin 76 has one end tapered, which permitsit to fall into the tapered bushing 79 to index plate 80, even thoughthe centers of pin and hole are not exactly in line. The other end ofindex pin7 6 is pivotally connected to a lever 74 by means of pin 75.Lever 74 is fastened to a shaft 73 journaled in the frame 1. The outerend of shaft 73 is fastened to a lever 72 whose other end carries a rollj ournaled on a pin fastened in the lever, said roll engaging with theabove mentioned cam 64, which is fastened to shaft 62. The cam 64 is soshaped and timed in relation with roll 7 O on crank plate 69, that itpulls index pin 76 just before roll 70 enters the slot 81 in motionplate 82 and again permits index pin 76 to pass into one of the taperedbushings 79, thereby locking shouldered sleeve 84 just as roll 70 leavesthe slot 81 after partially rotating the shouldered sleeve 84. It willbe well to note that the sliding member 117 is so timed with referenceto the locking of shouldered sleeve 84, that it permits the rotatingcutter 134 to pass through the blank .96 while the shouldered sleeve islocked by index pin 76 as above explained. The arbor 92 is j ournaled inthe axial opening of shouldered sleeve 84 and slidably connected with itby means of a pin 88 fastened to arbor 92, the upper end of pin 88passing through a slot 86 between the shoulders of said sleeve andoperating between the hardened plates 87 (see Fig. XIV) ,which arefastened on the shoulders of sleeve 84. By means of the pin 88 and theplates 87, any side wear can be readily taken up, and this arrangementof keeping the bearing point considerably out from the axis eliminatesor reduces the error of inaccuracy of the fitting of plates and pin asyou go toward the axis, making it possible to have considerable backlash between pin and plates before it will be noticeable in the teethcut on blank 96.

From the above description it is evident that arbor 92 can have alongitudinal mo tion in the shouldered sleeve 84 and also that therotary motion and the locking of this sleeve 84 will also be imparted tothe said arbor 92 and consequently to the blank 96 mounted on the end 95of auxiliary arbor 94, which is fastened to arbor 92 by means of pin 93.

In operation, my machine works as follows :Pinion blanks are put intohopper 23, the reciprocating sliding member 22 erects or rights them bymeans of its slot and they run into runway 32 by their own weight andare stacked in the vertical part of 32, when plunger 28 in horizontalpart of runway 32 comes in, removes one blank from the bottom of thevertical stack in 32 and forces the blank along until it comes againstthe spring loaded gage 13S and is held in position by plunger 28' andsaid gage 138 until cam 110 forces, by means of the interveninglinkages, the small end 95 of arbor 92 through the aperture of the blank96. As

'soon as the blank is staked, the clutch teeth 44 and 46 are thrown intoengagement by means of cam 12 and lever 48 shown, and shaft 45 isrotated, which reciprocates the sliding member 117, which carries therotating cutter 134 and passes it through the blank 96 and back again,when, as soon as cutter 184 has come back through the blank, the indexpin 76 is withdrawn from locking the arbor and the roll 70 enters theslot 81 of motion plate 82, thereby rotating the blank 96 for the nextcut. As soon as roll 70 has rotated the blank and is about to leave theslot 81, the pin again locks the arbor 95, when the slide 117 is backagain with cutter 134 and cuts another space, forming with the lastspace out the first tooth. The process of spacing and cutting the teethcontinues until the required number of teeth are cut, when cam 12 disengages the clutch teeth 44 and 46 as sliding member 117 approaches itsextreme forward position (away from cutting the blank), when the shaft45 stops rotation, since it will not have enough momentum afterdisengaging of clutch teeth to reverse the direction of motion of thesliding member 117. Then the cam 110, through the lever and linkagesshown, pulls the arbor 92 back again, sliding the blank 96 against thestandard and withdrawing the small arbor end 95 from the blank 96,leaving it free against the gage, when plunger 28 immediately brings inanother blank from the stack of blanks in runway 32, which blank forcesthe cut blank through the spring loaded gage 138 and into the deliverytube 42, where it falls into a receptacle or box for catching thefinished work. The new blank brought in plunger 28 is now held againstthe gage 138 and then staked on the arbor 95, when the process abovedescribed is repeated, making the ma chine entirely automatic in all itsparts.

It will be understood, of course, that the various portions of mymachine could be used with the others or in connection with featuresgreatly modified. It will also be understood that cams and arrangementsof levers and other such operating parts could be greatly modifiedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention. In short, I do notwish to be understood as limiting myself to one particular form,arrangement and grouping of these several features, elements or parts;but I have presented here that form of machine which I am now using,with the intention of having it taken in a sense diagrammatic ordescriptive of that class of machines which could be produced and anyone of which would contain the substance of all or most of my invention.

I claim:

1. In an automatic pinion cutting ma chine, a sliding member having anintermittent reciprocating motion, with means for giving said slidingmember said motion, said means comprising a crank disk, a pin fastenedon said disk, a link pivotally connected to said sliding member and saidpin, said crank disk being rigidly fastened to a shaft journaled in theframe of the machine, said shaft having an intermittent rotary motion,and means for giving said shaft said motion, said means comprising agear wheel journaled on said shaft, said gear having a continuous rotarymotion, a clutch, one jaw of which is fastened to said gear, the otherjaw of which is slidably mounted, but rotatably fastened on said shaft,and means for moving said aw in and out of engagement with said jaw onsaid gear.

2. In an automatic pinion cutting machine, a sliding member having anintermittent reciprocating motion, with means for giving said slidingmember said motion. said means comprising a crank disk, a pin fastenedon said disk, a link pivotally connected to said sliding member and saidpin, said crank disk being rigidly fastened to a shaft journaled in theframe of the machine, said shaft having an' intermittent rotary motion,and means for giving said shaft said motion, said means comprising agear wheel journaled on said shaft, said gear having a continuous rotarymotion, a clutch, one jaw of which is fastened to said gear, the otherfastened to a shaft having a continuous rojawb(l f wfvhich slidablyrfioifitntedhbut rotary motion. tata y astene on said s a an means formoving said jaw in and out of engage- ANDREW NEUREUTHER' 0' ment withsaid jaw on said gear, said means Witnesses:

comprising a lever, pivotally connected to 'E. ROTH, the frame of saidmachine, and a cam rigidly ANDREW J. JOHNSON.

